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A DISCOURSE 



DELIVERED ON THANKSGIVING DAY, 

December 12, 1850; 



ROBERT DAVIDSON, D. D. 

PASTOR OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NEW BRUNSWICK, N. J. 



PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. 



"Meddle not with them that are given to change: for their calamity shall rise suddenly; 
and who knoweth the ruin of them both?" — Prov. 21: 21, 22. 



NEW BRUNSWICK, N. J. 
1850. 

Press or J. Terhune & Son, No. 29 Albanv Street. 







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PREFATORY NOTE 



When a man attempts to discharge a public duty, it cannot but be gratifying 
to him to receive the approbation of the public. The favorable opinion which 
various persons have been kind enough to express of the following discourse, 
and repeated requests to see it in a permanent form, have induced the author 
to consent to its publication ; although, in justice to himself, it is proper to say 
that it was prepared without the remotest thought of such a result. 

He the more readily consents to this, because he is persuaded that the dis- 
course is in accordance with the sentiments of the great body of the Old School 
Presbyterian Church, with which he is connected. This body, though friendly 
to rational progress, is properly Conservative. It is a law-abiding body, not 
given to change. It is not known on the field of politics, nor can it be trans- 
ferred from one partizan leader to another to secure some local or temporary 
object. With the Fugitive Slave Law it has not undertaken to interfere. The 
public prints have indeed reported that the large and respectable Synod of Pitts- 
burgh lately passed resolutions denouncing that measure, but this was a mistake. 
Resolutions of such a tenor were offered, but they were not adopted. They 
were laid on the table. Such would probably be the fate of similar overtures in 
every Judicatory of this branch of the Church of Christ. The writer is happy 
to have the opportunity of making public the above correction. 



BY DANIEL HAINES, GOZEENOR OF THE STATE OF 
NEW JERSEY. 



Whereas, during another year, the Citizens of this State have been signally 
blessed in the enjoyment of health ; in the abundant products of the earth ; 
in the peace and prosperity that prevail ; and especially in the deliverance of 
the National Union from the dangers which have threatened it : 
And Whereas, it becomes us as a Christian people to acknowledge our de- 
pendence upon Almighty God, from whose bountiful hand all our blessings 
flow ; 

I do therefore set apart and appoint Thursday, the twelfth day of December 

next, as a day of public Thanksgiving and Praise, and respectfully recommend 

to my fellow-citizens the observance of it in the usual manner. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my hand and affixed my privy 

seal at the City of Trenton, the first day of November, in the year of 

L ' '•> our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Fifty. 

DANIEL HAINES. 



Mimuw, 



" And I will make them one nation in the land." Ezek. 37. 22. 

Our excellent Chief Magistrate has specified four causes of 
thanksgiving in his late pithy and pious proclamation, 1. "The 
enjoyment of health" ; we have been mercifully preserved from 
epidemics and pestilences during the year. 2, "the abundant 
products of the earth" ; God has given us fruitful seasons, and 
the early and latter rain, filling our hearts with food and gladness. 
3. " The Peace and Prosperity that prevail" ; Our State, small 
among the thousands of Judah, conducts its government without 
imposing a cent of tax, a thing that would hardly gain belief in 
some of the tax-ridden countries of the Old World. 4. "Espe- 
cially the deliverance of the National Union from the dangers 
which have threatened it." We recal with shuddering the por- 
tentous whispers which loaded every breeze last winter, and di- 
rected all eyes with the deepest interest to the Chief Council of 
the nation, and their arduous efforts to arrange an amicable com- 
promise. The compromise has not indeed given universal satis- 
faction, but it has at least secured us a breathing-time, and oppor- 
tunity for more mature consideration. 

This last item of the proclamation, the Union of these States, it 
is proposed to consider more at length, as a subject of engrossing 
interest and appropriate discussion in our present circumstances. 
Nor do we apprehend a rebuke from our auditors. " The priest's 
lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his 
mouth : for he is the Messenger of the Lord of Hosts." While 
partizan politics are justly proscribed as contaminating to the 
purity of the ministerial vestments, the fealty which we owe to 



the government under which we live, is to be no less sedulously 
inculcated as a great branch of moral duty- "-Put them in mind," 
writes the apostle Paul to a clergyman, "put them in mind to be 
subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates." Titus. 
3. 1. And he enjoins another clergyman, in conducting the public 
liturgical service of the church, " I exhort therefore, that first of 
all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be 
made for all men ; for kings, and for all that are in authority : 
that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and 
honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our 
Saviour." 1 Tim. 2. 1-3. And the apostle expatiates again at 
some length upon the subject of our civil duties, at the close of an 
epistle which had been devoted to the discussion of the highest 
points of doctrine. " Let every soul be subject unto the higher 
powers. For there is no power but of God ; the powers that be 
are ordained of God." He means to say, the magistracy equally 
with the ministry is of divine origin and appointment, though the 
particular individuals who shall execute the trust, are not directly 
specified by the Lord. Even a bad government is preferable to 
none. " Whosoever resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance 
of God : and they that resist shall receive to themselves damna- 
tion. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. 
Wilt thou then not be afraid of the Power? Do that which is 
good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. For he is the min- 
ister of God to thee for good," not to rule for himself, but for the 
benefit of Society. " But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid ; 
for he beareth not the sword in vain : for he is the minister of God, 
a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Where- 
fore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for 
conscience sake" ; not merely through fear of penal statutes, but 
from conscientious motives. " For, for this cause pay ye tribute 
also ; for they are God's ministers," (this is the third time the 
apostle calls magistrates God's ministers,) attending continually 
upon this very thing," or ministry. " Render therefore to all 
their dues ; tribute to whom tribute is due, — custom to whom 
custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor." Rom. 13. 
1-7. So far from stirring up sedition, and placing a dagger in the 



hands of the slave, the advice of the apostle is peremptory and 
decided. " I*et as many servants as are under the yoke count 
their own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and 
his doctrine be not blasphemed." You see how carefully the 
apostle assigns moral, not political, motives for the course he 
recommends. He did not wish to see the Gospel of Christ made a 
cloak for sedition. " And they that have believing masters, let 
them not despise them, because they are brethren ; but rather do 
them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of 
the benefit. " These things teach and exhort." The preacher is 
not out of the line of his duty in teaching and exhorting on this 
subject. But notice the scorching rebuke to those who pursue an 
inflammatory course. " If any man teach otherwise, and consent 
not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is proud, 
knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words," 
logomachies, mere abstract and not practical points, " whereof 
cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings, 
(gallings, in the original,) of men of corrupt minds, and destitute 
of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness : from such withdraw 
thyself." 1 Tim. 6. 1-5. See the prolific and bitter fruit, like 
the apples of Sodom and the grapes of Gomorrah. See it, see it, 
all over the land ! and all because the apostle's advice is disre- 
garded. 

Such is our warrant. It is ample. The preacher needs no 
apology for doing his duty. " There is a time for all things." 
" Every thing is beautiful in its season." And if ever there was 
a time for "putting men in mind to be subject to principalities and 
powers, and to obey magistrates," the present is that time. We 
speak not as politicians, but as Christian moralists, whose position 
elevates us high above the dust of the forum and the strife of the 
ballot box, and bids us reach forth and grasp eternal principles, 
that lie at the foundation of all government and social order. This 
is our place ; this is our vantage-ground ; and from it we call upon 
the people to be subject to their magistrates, not only for wrath, 
but also for conscience sake. And if the holy apostle could incul- 
cate such a course of conduct under the imperial sway of a Nero, 



8 

much more should American citizens respect the rulers they 
themselves have elevated to office. This is the Law of Christ. 
If there be a " higher law," we know not where to look for it. 

We deprecate Disunion, because it is unconstitutional, because 
it is uncalled for, and because it is unwise. 

I. It is unconstitutional. 

It is well for republics occasionally to revert to first principles, 
and re-examine their original foundation, that they may be saved 
from fatal deviations. 

Union is not a novelty. So long ago as 1643, the Eastern Colo- 
nies banded together for mutual defence against the Indian tribes, 
under the name of "the United Colonies of New England." In 
1722, a convention of the governors and commissioners of several 
of the provinces met at Albany to consult upon the more effectual 
protection of the frontier. In 1754, the British government invited 
a similar convention, in view of the French war. At that very 
time, a hundred years ago, the first germ of our present constitu- 
tion sprang into being. The commissioners proposed a grand 
Confederation of all the North American provinces, with a trien- 
nial council to be appointed by the provincial assemblies, and a 
President, to be appointed by the Crown. But the jealousies both 
of the British and Colonial governments effectually frustrated the 
adoption of the plan. In 1765, the first actual Continental Con- 
gress sat in New York, and prepared a Bill of Rights, in which 
they protested against the power of taxation ; which was confirmed 
by a like congress of delegates the following year in Philadelphia. 
These proceedings had at that time all the force of laws. But it 
was in 1775, that the body met which we are in the habit of re- 
garding as the Congress by eminence, and which was a national 
convention in the truest sense of the term. In 1776, this venera- 
able body issued the ever memorable Declaration of Independence, 
and prepared articles of Confederation. So long as the outward 
pressure lasted, the States were held fraternally together, but as 
that was gradually removed, the confederation proved a rope of 
sand. It was only a league or compact of States; and as each 
State reposed on its unshorn Sovereignty, the general government 
found itself without power to levy imposts for the discharge of the 



national debt, to regulate trade, or to coerce obedience. The en- 
tire army was reduced to 80 rank and file. The Union was fast 
losing respect at home and abroad, and the prospects were deplora- 
ble. The exigency at length so vividly forced itself on the atten- 
tion of the people, that in 1787, a new Convention of delegates 
from the several States met in Philadelphia, and after a session of 
several months with closed doors, General Washington being the 
presiding officer, they prepared the present federal Constitution. 
It was submitted to the people of each State, and by them ratified, 
and went into operation March 4, 1789 ; Rhode Island and North 
Carolina giving in their adherence the year following. From that 
time the United States started on that career of uninterrupted pro- 
gress, which has given them almost the entire northern continent; 
has brought them face to face on the Pacific with Asia ; has made 
them the second, if not the first, commercial power in the world ; 
and has rendered our flag the admiration or the envy of all nations. 

This historical review is absolutely necessary at the present 
time, in order to set the question before us in its true light. Our 
Constitution is not a compact, it is a government; it was not, like 
the old confederation, the work of the States, it was the work of 
the People ; and it contains no provision for its dissolution, nor for 
the secession of any of its members. As the States were not, as 
such, parties to the compact, so they have no power to nullify it. 
No single State by its legislature has the right to talk of such a thing. 
Our government, State and National, is twofold, yet not clashing. 
The same people have constructed both. It is as if the same man 
had established one agency to carry on one particular kind of bu- 
siness, and another agency to carry on another kind of business. 
The same head, and the same responsibility, superintend both. 

This is a point which will bear no denial. It is an incontestable 
fact. The People of each State met in convention to adopt and 
ratify, without the intervention of the legislatures ; and the Pre- 
amble rehearses, in unmistakeable language, the popular origin of 
the Constitution. Listen to it.- 

"We, the People of the United States, in order to form a more 
perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, pro- 
vide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and 

2 



10 

secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do 
ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of 
America." 

This instrument was framed with great care and deliberation 
by the first men of the country, and every word has its definite, 
exact and weighty meaning. The words "We, the People,"' are 
the emphatic words, to which we call your attention in the present 
discussion. Too much importance cannot be given to the phrase. 
It marks a complete and total contrast with the old confederation. 
In the 2d article of that instrument it was explicitly stated, that 
"each State retained its sovereignty, freedom, and independence; 
and every power, jurisdiction and right, which was not, by that 
confederation, expressly delegated to the United States in Congress 
assembled.'*' Such a government as ours is now, the State Legis- 
latures were incompetent to establish ; but whether or not, the fact 
is settled by the Preamble already recited ; which, saying not a 
word of the State Sovereignties, ascribes its paternity wholly to 
the People. In the People resides the Supreme Sovereignty. 

The only objection that can be raised to this exposition, is, that 
though no State legislature has a right to nullify, the people of the 
State may assemble in convention again, and resolve peaceably or 
otherwise to secede. But here comes in another principle. In 
ordinary business, or in leagues and compacts between corpora- 
tions, no one single party has a right to retire from the agreement. 
If a man makes a contract or a bargain, he is bound by its terms, 
however dissatisfied he may afterwards become. This is doubly 
the case, when common rights, common engagements, and com- 
mon interests are involved. If either party might withdraw at 
pleasure, the common rights and interests would be fearfully 
jeoparded. The liberty is not allowed in ordinary courts of jus- 
tice. It cannot be recognized among States, except under one 
contingency, that is. the right of revolution. Is there a grievance 
that justifies this step ? 

II. This leads naturally to another ground of objection against 
Disunion. It is uncalled for. 

Whenever grievances arrive at such a pitch as to be absolutely 
intolerable, the constitution has provided a peaceful method of 



11 

adjustment and redress. The 5th article provides for amend- 
ments, in case they should he found necessary. Either on the 
suggestion of two thirds of both houses of Congress, or on appli- 
cation of the legislatures of two thirds of the States, a convention 
may he summoned for the purpose, and if ratified by the legisla- 
tures or conventions of three fourths of the States, the amendments 
proposed shall become valid. The time that must necessarily 
elapse, will be favorable to a calm and dispassionate judgment, 
and thus put obstacles in the way of that hasty or fluctuating legis- 
lation which must prove a fatal impediment to prosperity. Sta- 
bility is essential to the well-being of national institutions. People 
will not consent to venture much unless they know what they 
have to expect. At the same time, with suitable checks and balan- 
ces, the power of proposing amendments leaves nothing to be de- 
sired. Should the rights of the States, or of any State, be in- 
fringed, Congress is bound to call a convention when constitu;ion- 
ally requested. If the requisite number of two thirds cannot be 
made to see the propriety or advantage of a convention, it may 
admit of a reasonable doubt whether a convention is needed. 

The Constitution was originally the fruit of Compromise and 
mutual concession. That spirit must still prevail, if Ave would 
continue as we are. That spirit has wisely dictated the late com- 
promise. That it has been unsatisfactory to the violent extremes 
on both sides, is presumptive evidence of its wisdom and modera- 
tion. At any rate it is now the law of the land, and as such must 
be respected. All constitutional remedies must first be exhausted, 
before resistance is talked of. 

It is certain that without certain constitutional guaranties the 
South would never have entered into the Union. By letting their 
peculiar institutions alone, therefore, we lose nothing ; we are just 
where we would have been, without a union. Those are purely 
local laws, local institutions. And this should be remembered by 
both extremes. Those who live north of Mason and Dixon's line 
should abstain from fanatical and incendiary intermeddling with 
the local laws of the Southern States ; and those living south of 
that line should no less reflect that they cannot carry their local 
laws wherever they go themselves. They may, indeed, complin 



12 

that they are shut out from the rights of American citizens, in not 
being permitted to take their property with them : bnt they should 
remember that property is an indeterminate thing. What is pro- 
perty in one State, is not in another. If a State enact local pro- 
hibitions that affect strangers alone, while her own citizens are ex- 
empted, there might be ground for complaint ; but if those prohi- 
bitions include her own citizens also, there is, and can be, none. 
If a State refuses to recognize a certain species of property among 
her own citizens, there is no injustice in treating strangers in thj 
same manner. To make an exception in favor of the latter, would 
be most extraordinary partiality indeed. 

We think, therefore, the Constitution is good enough, and covers 
the ground sufficiently without any alterations. We advance a 
step further. 

III. We deprecate Disunion as unwise. " Every wise woman 
buildeth her house, but a foolish woman plucketh it down with her 
hands." Prov. 14, 1. 

To what, under God, are we indebted for our rapid progress, 
our unparalleled prosperity, our commanding position, our poten- 
tial voice among the nations ? To what but the blessed Union ! 
To it we owe every thing. What madmen, then, are they who 
are clamorous for a separation ! What do they want ? Is it only 
a threat, to coerce into submission to their views? Or are they 
dreadfully in earnest ? And if so, to what do they wish to reduce 
us ? Would they revive that rope of sand, the impotent old Con- 
federation ? Or would they have a variety of petty Sovereignties, 
each with its own marine, its own standing army, its own Hag, its 
own custom-house, its own tariff, its own coinage, and its own pass- 
ports? Do they want us split up into so many insignificant German 
Duchies, or independent Indian tribes? What is to become of 
the smaller States, in such a division, and how will they fare ? 
What disposition shall be made of those glorious old memories in 
which we have all proudly claimed a share? 

On the instrument which published our nationality, the hand- 
writing of Franklin is mingled with that of Jefferson ; and the twin 
signatures of Hancock and Carroll attest their equal undaunted- 
ness and self-sacrifice. Northern bayonets flashed at the Bran- 



13 

dywine ; and Southern feet bled on the frozen Delaware. Sara- 
toga saw a Southern contingent at the capture of Burgoyne; nor 
was the North absent from the closing scenes of Yorktown. And 
there is Mount Vernon. How shall that hallowed spot be divided ? 
Or who will assume its exclusive guardianship ? Or which party 
will be willing to visit their father's grave by stealth only, by suf- 
ferance aid connivance, as strangers and foreigners? Or, more 
horrible still ! whose cannon shall wake those slumbering echoes 
with their sacrilegious roar, and whose kindred blood shall drench 
the burial ground of Washington ? When I think of these things, 
I cannot bring myself to believe that any of the Old Thirteen — 
when it comes to that, — will have the heart to do it. 

And how is the dissolution of the Union to be brought about ? 
Does any one suppose it can be done as peacefully and quietly as 
a summer morning ? Is any one so crazy as to imagine this within 
the range of probabilities? Will it not be with "the confused 
noise of warriors, and garments rolled in blood ?" Will not the 
torch of civil, not to say of servile, war, be kindled, and brother 
rush to bury his sword in his brother's breast ? Will not towns be 
bombarded, sacked, pillaged, burnt, amidst the shrieks of virgins 
and the unavailing remonstrances of the hoary head. And should 
any one of the States assume a belligerent attitude, would she be 
so insane as to cope with all the rest single-handed, and call in no 
foreign help, and commission no privateers with letters of marque 
on ^ie high seas ? And shall we see foreign navies riding in our 
northern harbors ? Shall Jersey again be made the Flanders of 
America, and Brunswick once more see the old sycamore in Bur- 
net street converted into the flag-staff of an enemy's head-quarters, 
while this and other churches, as was done in years gone by, are 
dismantled, desecrated, and destroyed ? 

It is easy for demagogues to get up the cry of war, but it is the 
people that must pay for it. It is the people that must bear the 
burden and heat of the day. It is the people that must be saddled 
with heavy taxes ; it is the people that must spill their own or their 
children's blood ; it is the people that must suffer from the stagna- 
tion of business, the interruption of commerce, the scarcity of mo- 
ney and commodities, and the usual demoralization of war. The 



14 

people should think long and warily before they sound the tocsin, 
and plunge into such a complication of evils. 

The children of Israel long rued the day when Ahijah the Shi- 
lonite rent his mystic garment in twelve pieces ; and most wel- 
come, as cold Avaters to a thirsty soul, was the promise of Jehovah 
by the prophet Ezekiel, that he would again bring Ephraim and 
Joseph together, and make them "one nation in the land upon the 
mountains of Israel, and one king should be king to them all : they 
should be no more two nations, neither be divided into two king- 
doms, any more at all." It was not without reason our Lord 
uttered those words, " Every kingdom divided against itself is 
brought to desolation ; and every city or house divided against 
itself shall not stand." 

The agitation which so fiercely distracts the country is owing 
to the peculiar institutions of the South. We are no apologists 
for Slavery ; rather the reverse. We believe, with a great States- 
man of the Southwest, and in his own nervous words, " Slavery is 
a curse to the master ; and a wrong, a grievous wrong, to the 
Slave." But we must look at the subject all round. One sided 
views are almost sure to mislead. Slavery is an evil, but Dis- 
union would entail a thousand evils. The one is a partial and a 
local evil ; the other would be a universal and a national disaster. 
With the Union go down peace, order, liberty, independence, pros- 
perity, respectability, religion, morality, foreign missions, the ex- 
ample of a successful republic, the sick hope of a down-trodden 
world. The despots of Europe would exchange congratulatory 
notes, and hell hold high carnival. The Union brings us a thousand 
blessings ; let us not for a single doubtful benefit hazard them all. 
The Lord has made us one nation in the land. Let us not rend 
ourselves in twain. Let us not quench our Stars in a night of 
shame, and redden our Stripes with our own blood. 

And now, to resume the more customary tone of the pulpit, we 
would have you reflect on the melancholy instability of all things 
human, the wisest constitutions, the best constructed governments, 
the most promising works of man. " For promotion cometh neither 
from the East, nor from the West, nor from the South ; But God is 
the judge ; he putteth down one, and setteth up another." Ps. 



15 

75 ; 6, 7. Let us, while we pray for guidance, for peace, for union, 
make the Most High the portion of our souls, and secure a title to 
the inheritance incorruptible, undefined, and that fadeth not away. 
" This word, once more, signifieth the removing of those things 
that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which 
cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore, receiving a kingdom 
which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve 
God acceptably with reverence and godly fear." There is a 
Union more desirable and enduring than any that can be formed 
on earth. It is a Union with Christ. It is truly indissoluble. Death, 
which breaks all other ties, will but strengthen this. God grant, 
whatever our political condition is, that we may be " no longer 
strangers and foreigners in the city of God, but fellow-citizens 
with the Saints, and of the household of God !" " Of Zion it shall 
be said," as the proudest of distinctions, "this and that man was 
born in her; and the Highest himself shall establish her." Ps. 
87; 5. 



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